Thread milling machine



Se t. 14, 1937. N. M.'MARS|L|U$ THREAD MILLING MACHINE 4 sheets-sheet 1 Filed April 2, 1935' IN VEN TOR Map/nan Mdfansw'lz'us ATTORNEY Sept. 14, 1937.

N. M. MARSILIUS THREAD MILLING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 2, 1935 JIVVENIO/Z Mao/72am MffarsZ/z'as HTI'ORNEI Sept. 14, 1937. N. M. MARSlLlUS 2,093,050

THREAD MILLING MACHINE Filed April- 2, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. ewma/z Mflfirsilzas A TTORNEY p 55 line 22 of Fig. 3, better to show the driving conkeyed to the said she.

Patented Sept. 14, 1937 2,093,050

uNlTED STATEs PATENT} OFFICE 2,093,050 THREAD MILLING MACHINE Newman M. Marsilius, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Bridgeport Bronze Company, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application April 2, 1935, Serial No. 14,281 3 Claims. ('01. 90-4) My invention relates generally to metal working nections for the several productive operative parts machines, such for instance as turning thread shown on the front of the machine; cutting and cam milling, and more specifically to Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the machine, as machines for cutting relatively heavy and special shown from the left in Fig. 1;

6 forms of female threads, as used in worms for Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 5 driving worm gears commonly employed in the 4-4 of Fig. 1, better to show the adjustable and smaller types of machines, as for instance speedot a b k upp t mechanism 110 e p ometers, electric motors and like mechanisms ated upon for t e p od ct o a Worm, a shown where a dependable reduction of speed may be in Fig. 9, or other piece of work which my maacquired. chine is capable of producing; 10

An object of the invention is to provide a semi- Fig. 5 shows a horizontal cross section taken on automatic machine wherein the services of but a line 5- Figs- 1 and which ther llustrates single attendant is required to place the workinto the c st including e ju able and and remove it from the machine. rotatable blank supporting e a sm;

A blank to be threaded is rotatably supported Fig 6 s w a sectional p an v w. tak n on 15 in a bearing carried by a vertically movable slide e 5 of Fig- 1, of the means of adjustably which is fed forward into position for a cutting Supporting the Cutting u a operation and slowly rotated during the operation 7 h w a d ail vertical sectional view on and then returned to normal position when the line 0f 1, better to illustrate the same 90 work is finished. cutter supporting means; p

A second horizontallyoperated slide is also Fig. 8 shows a detail sectional plan view of the provided to move the cutter horizontally with change gee! drive located in the p t e marespect to the blank to be cut and to carry the chine frame, see sand 3. t u h w c cutting unit at a suitable angle with respect to difiel'ent speeds for the Worm block y be 0b- 95 the work piece to insure a proper lead for the tamed; and

worm. The assembly further i d proper Fig. 9 shows on a large scale side elevations of means for adjustment to compensate for various cutter and a Worm such as is produced by my sizes and conditions of the work to be performed. machine and extensively s d as One member of a Suitable automatic air operated chucking means W011" and 8 driveprovided for holding work in position during Referring in detail to the-reference characters the cutting operations. marked upon the drawings, l0 indicates the main The machine furthermore includes the provision frame of the machine which, as Will b noted, is

of means whereby t tt spindle support may of a general upright form and has its top end porbe adjusted relative to its slide and the work piece enclosed by an additional frame member II to be operated upon, so as to change the relative that forms an enclosed gear compartment in 85 angle of the cutter to the work in order to increase which change speed gearing is housed. as W l or decrease the lead in the worm or work piece again be referredto. The frame I0 is preferably produced in the form of a single casting and for the most 40 With these and incidental objects in view, the 1s hollow except for stiffening ribs and operlnvention includes certain novel features of conatwe mechanism contain? thereinstruction and combination of parts, the essential The power for the machme may be taken from elements of which are set forth in the appended motor mounted. upon the top of the machine claims and a preferred form of embodiment of or attached to it my some other Suitable place and which is hereinafter described with reference to g' a g g p and as the drawings which accompany and form part tiica g belllt 0 ed lines in Fig The first menof this specification. $513 I 2232; :5 1 g e 0 zon a s a it: this: iiiiitiie tt asserts: a in m w carrying 5 ence characters in each of the views and in which oppos 8 end portion a worm that meshes with and dri Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of my improved ves a worm gear loosely mounted upon a vertical shaft I milling e, having a. cover plate removed frame I 0. a that is also journaled m the from its upper side This worm gear I! is provided wi h Fig. 2 1s a rear sectional elevation taken on face 19 for engagement with a clutch me i nl i:1 2 0 ft l8 and provided with a spring 2| that normally tends to hold the clutch sleeve in engagement with the clutch face of the gear II. This clutch drive connection.obviously serves as the starting and stopping means of the machine and is controlled by levers Hand 23, shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The first mentioned lever, as will be seen from Fig. 3, is hingedly connected to the side of the frame at 24, and provided with a spring 23 for normally holding its treadle end up, and through the link connection 23 and the bell crank connections 21 to move the clutch sleeve out of engagement with the clutch faced gear, thus leaving the pulley l4, its shaft l5 and worm gear I I free to run idle.

Means, as will be seen, is provided for holding these parts in this position and the clutches disengaged, which consist of a hook extension 23 formed on the lever 23 and designed to' engage a pin 23 carried by the lever 22.. A spring 33, one end of which is connected to the lever 22 and the other to the hook 23, is for the purpose of holding the said hook in engagement with the. pin, thus holding the lever 22 and its connected parts in their set positions, which holds the clutch disengaged. An operation of this lever 23 naturally disengages the hook, allows the lever 22 to move up and the clutch to become disengaged.

Therefore, alternate operations of these foot levers 22 and 23 will serve to first disengage the clutch and second to engage it so that the machine can be readily stopped and started by an operator standing in front.

Provisions are included in my machine design for automatically stopping the feed movements of the two slides, as for instance when the operator desires to remove a finished piece and replace it with a blank to be cut. This automatic stoppage is accomplished by mounting a contacting rod 3| to the side of the vertically reciprocatory slide-32, shown in Fig. 3, and adjusting it with respect to the slide so that its lower end portion will contact the lever 23 and disengage its hook from the pin 23 of the lever 22 and thereby disengage the clutch 23, leaving the vertical shaft idle while the main driving shaft I 3 continues to rotate. This slide 32 serves to carry the horizontal work spindle 33 in which the blank 34 is chucked, preparatory to being out. A relatively slow rotary movement is imparted to this work spindle from the before mentioned vertical shaft l3 through the following change speed driving connections, see Figs. 2 and 8.

Upon the upper end of the shaft I3 is mounted a driving gear 33 which meshes with and drives an idler gear 33 carried by an adjustable plate 3'! pivoted on the shaft 33 in the top frame member H. A slot and screws 39 serve for the adjustment of the plate whereby diflerent sized gears may be substituted and different speeds of the shaft 33 obtained. In this connection it will be noted that the idler gear meshes with gear 33' on shaft 33. Upon the lower end portion of this shaft is mounted a worm 43 that meshes with and drives a worm gear 4| upon the before men-' short shaft 41. A suitable follower 43 is adjustably mounted in the face of the slide and includes a'screw 43 carried in the slide and provided with a micrometer dial 33 which may be read in connection with a fixed part of the slide.

The threaded portion of the screw obviously engages and operates the follower member 43 in the adjusting operation for the setting of the roller 3| carried thereby, with respect to the axis of the shaft 41 upon which the cam 46 is mounted.

Set screws 32 serve to secure the follower 43 and its roller 3| in position after the same have been set by the adjusting screw. The cam 46 is mounted upon a short shaft 41 that extends into the hollow of the frame and carries a gear 53 that meshes with and is driven by a worm 54 upon the before mentioned shaft i3. This line of mechanism, as thus far described, obviously serves to provide not only rotary movement to the work spindle, but vertical movement to the slide whereby it is brought up into position for engagement with the cutter 55 which isgiven a longitudinal movement as in the cutting of the grooves in the worm.

An adjustable stop guard 53 is also mounted in this slide for properly positioning certain kinds and larger pieces of work, not shown, in the .chuck to be operated upon. This, as will be seen,

comprises a pair of parallel longitudinal rods 51 that extend through the slide, the lower one passing through an air cylinder 53. A nut 33 mounted upon the threaded end of the lower rod serves as a means of adjustment of the stop member 33.

The second slide of my machine is positioned to reciprocate horizontally above the before mentioned slide 32 and like the lower slide is operated through a cam, driven from the before mentioned shaft II. This top slide, which I will designate as 6 I, will be perhaps better understood from Figs. 6 and 7, and as will be seen is mounted on a suitable horizontal dove-tail way 32 that is formed integral with the main frame III.

A pocket 63 is formed in the thicker portion-of the frame forming the before mentioned way and is adapted to receive a pair of compression springs 34, one end of which abuts against an end wall of the pocket and the other against I the plate 33 that encloses the said pocket, the

object of course being to provide a tension to hold the roller of the adjustable follower 33 in engagement with the cam 31 and whereby the rotation of the cam will serve to move the slide horizontally' with respect to the frame.

The cam 31 is mounted upon one end portion of a short shaft 33 which is journaled in the frame and has mounted upon its other end a worm gear 33 that meshes with and is driven by a worm 13 upon the before mentioned driven shaft l3. The follower 63 is mounted in suitable guide ways of the slide and provided with set screws ll, an adjusting screw 12 and a micrometer graduated surface 13 whereby the tool carried by the slide may be accurately positioned with respect to the work piece to be milled. This slide obviously carries the cutter 35, its arbor l4 and hanger I3.

Pulleys 13 mounted on the arbor 14 are driven through the before mentioned belts l3, thus affording an independent drive means from that of the rest of the machine. The upper portion of this hanger is flanged, as at H, and is secured to a plate 13 which in turn is adjustable crosswise with respect to the under porton I3 of the slide. Screws 33 serve to secure the adjustable plate 18 and the portion 19 of the slide securely together, after the plate has been subject to delicate forward and backward movements so as to insure the proper positioning of the cutter arbor with respect to the work to be operated upon.

The hanger 15 is attached to the plate I8 in a manner to afiord angular adjustment of the one with respect to the other, and better to provide necessary and variable leads in the feed of the cutting tool for producing different sizes and leads of worms. This angular adjustment is afforded by reason of the employment of a stud 8| which is mounted in the hanger though secured to the slide through a screw 82 in a manner to form a swivel upon which the hanger may be adjusted. In this connection it will be seen from Fig. 1 that a series of graduations 83 are marked upon the plate 18 in a way to be read by a line upon the face of the flange 'l'l.

A T-slot 84, see Fig. 1 and dotted lines in Fig. 6, is formed in the underside of plate 18 to receive the T-bolt 85 whereby the outer end of the hanger which is subject to the greater movement may be supported and clamped in its adjustable position. Additional bolts 86, which are provided in the opposite end of the hanger for clamping that portion to the slide. These bolts 85 and 86 are obviously only loosened or tightened when it is necessary to change the angle of the arbor and cutter with respect to the work.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the work pieces may be readily placed in the chuck carried by the slide and secured in that position by air pressure, after which the machine will be started in a way to cause the roller to crawl up out of the pocket of the cam 45, thus raising the slide and bringing the work piece up against the underside of the cutter in position to be operated I upon. The operation of the cutter, after the work piece has been positioned therein, is not only that of rotating, as a milling cutter, but is fed longitudinally of the worm in a manner to form a spiral female groove, producing a screw type of worm.

The machine is automatically stopped after the work has been finished by the engagement of the before mentioned rod with the foot treadle which throws out the drive for the two slides, leaving the machine idle for the moment while the operator removes the finished worm and replaces it with a new blank. I)

In view of the fore-going description of the construction and operation of the machine it will also be seen that if it is desired to use the same for cam milling it can readily be done by disengaging the upper slide from its cam 61 so that it will not be reciprocated thus leaving the cutter to be driven straight and not subjected to horizontal movement during the cutting operation. In this case the blank to be cut to form a cam would be suitably chucked in the spindle 33 so that the cutter carried by the arbor H- would operate upon the periphery of the cam. A suitable master cam would be substituted for cam ,and obviously serve to raise and lower the slide 32 and its spindle in a way to feed the blank to and from the cutter in corresponding relation to the contour of the master cam so as to reproduce cams having the same contour surface as that of the master com.

Having thus described my invention, what ways formed on the front side thereof, an elongated vertical drive shaft on the back side of the frame, a vertical reciprocatory slide mounted in the vertical ways, a horizontal reciprocatory slide mounted in the transverse ways above the vertical slide, spaced apart short shafts extending through the frame from front to back one in the lower portion of the frame and the other in the upper portion of the frame, gears connecting the drive shaft and the short shafts, a cam positioned on the front end portion of each of the short shafts, one for operating the horizontal slide and the other for operating the vertical slide, a horizontal work spindle carried in the vertical slide, separate means for driving the spindle, a hanger swively mounted upon the horizontal slide for angular adjustment, a cutter arbor journaled in the hanger and adapted to support a cutter above and in adjustable angular relation to the work spindle to cut threads of varying pitch in the work piece and means for adjusting the hanger and arbor.

2. A thread milling machine comprising a stationary frame having vertical and transverse ways formed on the front side thereof, an elongated vertical drive shaft on the back side of the frame, a vertical reciprocatory slide mounted in the vertical ways, a horizontal reciprocatory slide mounted inthe transverse ways above the vertical slide, spaced apart short shafts extending through the frame from front to back one in the lower portion of the frame and the other in the upper portion of the frame, gears connecting the drive shaft and the short shafts, a cam positioned on the front end portion of each of the short shafts, one for operating the horizontal slide and the other for operating the vertical slide, means for driving the work spindle including a gear upon the spindle, adrive shaft, a worm slidably mounted upon the shaft and meshing with a gear to operate the same and spindle, a hanger swively mounted upon the horizontal slide for angular adjustment, a cutter arbor journaled in the hanger and adapted to support a cutter above and in adjustable angular relation to cut threads of' a varying pitch in the work piece, means for adjusting the hanger and separate means for driving the cutter arbor.

3. A thread milling machine comprising a stationary frame having vertical and transverse ways formed one above the other-in the face thereof, a work carrying slide mounted in the vertical ways, a reciprocatory cutter slidemounted in the transverse ways, a work spindle carried in the first mentioned slide, means for driving the spindle, cam means for supporting and raising and lowering the work slide for cutting operations, a single driving shaft for operating the separate cam means for the two said slides,

a short shaft journalled in the frame, a cam upon the short shaft for operating the cutter slide, a spring intermediate the frame and horizontal slide to retain the slide in engagement with the said cam, an adjustable follower mounted in the cutter slide and carrying a roller to engage the cam for operating the cutter slide, means for operating the short shaft, a hanger swively mounted upon the horizontal slide for angular adjustment. a cutter arbor journaled in the hanger and adapted to support a cutter above and in adjustable angular relation to the work spindle to cut threads of varying pitch in the work piece, means for adjusting, the hanger, and means for driving the cutter arbor. .NEWMAN M. MARSILIUS. 

